User blog:Jpprales/Tips to Surviving as a Tokyo Private School Jet (2018) Part One: Lifestyle
Lifestyle (Pressing the Reset Button) cultural awareness, living conditions & where to explore first As an introduction to this week's talk on Lifestyle, I would like to note that there are many philosophies that I am laying out for the reader. While there are few specifics as to "How to do this", I am focusing on the metaphysical idea of building a new lifestyle from the ground up. However, during the third component of this series (where I talk about my financial strategies a little more in-depth) many topics here will be further expanded on in regard to the topic. When I began writing this week's post, I felt that keeping a general standpoint will serve to fulfill a greater understanding in future posts. 'Cultural Awareness (vs. Language Skill)' If you are anything like me, you figured that watching about three days’ worth of YouTuber’s experiences while living in Japan qualifies you as an expert of international subsistence. Sadly, most videos, blogs, and advice you receive, including my own, only cover the very peak of challenges and dilemmas internationals face when living in Japan. While language skills play a huge factor in your success, I would like to state that, your specific ability to live and flourish in another country is NOT based off your language proficiency level alone. '''What you must have to understand and thrive in another part of the world is '''a high level of emotional intelligence and cultural awareness in social exchanges with co-workers and natives alike. A good example of language proficiency vs. cultural awareness would be to imagine a high school setting where we are comparing a socially awkward genius (representing language proficiency) to a charismatic flunky (cultural/situational awareness). While the genius may know all the tips and tricks to navigate them through the most challenging problems, a charismatic person could easily persuade someone to help them or even have someone do the work for them. In some instances, problems or challenges might take a multitude of people to finish, so if the flunky has a way with his communications (even the most basic), he could end up being successful by merely being charismatic. While an intellectual person who is lacking social skills will likely struggle in a social setting. '' The point is, knowing how to speak a language well does not make you and your dialog culturally (or even socially) adequate and can even work against you if you communicate things negatively. Being respectful, patient, and understanding, on the other hand, do. It also makes you more charismatic at that. This should serve the purpose of expressing to you: '''If you have good Japanese language skills', it does not mean you will always be culturally parallel to a native Japanese person’s culture, beliefs, or attitude. So, take care of your actions and words. If you have poor or no Japanese language skills, being respectful goes much further than speaking another language and if you give people enough time, not only do they find a way to understand you, they usually return the kindness in favor. Mastering both language proficiency and cultural awareness should be a side goal for the next year as you begin to settle into your new host communities and schools. Any reference material that covers Japanese cultural norms is an asset and while I could give a few off the top of my head, Google-Sensei is much more qualified for that job. Here is a really cool e-journal that breaks down cultural awareness by Emanuela Tulpan 'Living Conditions' ' ' To simplify the needs of the reader, if you already have already decided on your home, please skip the “A” section of this component' '''and go straight to “B” If by chance you still need to find a residence, please continue reading. 'Section A: Looking for a new home? Finding residence in Tokyo is hard enough merely writing about; there are so many unseen factors and small hiccups that occur when new JETs start shopping for apartments in a place like Tokyo. While it might be the case that foreigners make poor neighbors here in Japan, many places have “No Foreigners” policies and unless you have an inside guy or gal, your ability to branch off from using a guarantor like GTN is very limited. I personally was fortunate enough to know a person whose boss was doing real estate on the side. After waiting two hours for an extremely late representative from GTN, I decided to go with my buddies’ boss. I was satisfied with the first apartment we looked at and sealed the deal with little to no hassle. This is by no means usual and I don’t suggest going astray from recommended guarantor unless you have the connections and skills to negotiate in Japanese. Regardless, here are things to keep in mind when shopping for your new home: How much will it cost upfront? (Hidden and Starting Fees) What is the distance of this apartment/house and my school? What kind of landlord works at the establishment? '' ''What is the distance of this apartment/house and the nearest convenience store? What kind of other stores are local such as dry cleaning, supermarket, hair salons, karaoke, etc… Does my apartment have a nice bathroom, a pantry, a decent size closet, kitchen, etc? '' ''Do I want to live on the first floor? (Think about bugs and showing the unexpected world your undergarments as a potential.) '' ''How thick are the walls? (Can I hear my neighbors’ breath?) Is there a mailbox for larger items? (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) '' '' '''Keep in mind that your house is the focal point of you establishing a life in another country. If you choose poorly this will affect EVERY other aspect of your life in Japan. '''Your house should feel and look like the kind of place that you can go to when you need to escape stress. Choosing something that fits your needs is the '''first real step to being a successful ALT. Do not simply brush off these questions, when house hunting, because it may come back to haunt you in your sleep (for example, waking up in the middle of the night hearing sneezes from your neighbor next door). There are still many outside factors to living a comfortable life that we cannot control. However, if you make a well-informed and thought-out decision in your home, it will mean dealing with less negative external factors in the future. Just remember your home and experience in it are a byproduct of the situation you choose to create. 'Section B: Identifying Essential Places (Locally)' Let's talk about the future. More specifically, about your future life as an ALT. Is JET just a one-year gig or are you going to stay for that long hard run of three to five years? For most, the start of your career is far too early to determine this, however, what can inevitably cause you to throw in the towel after a year is directly affected by not adjusting to your living conditions and a lack of information about your local settings. Understanding the world directly associated with your house and route to work will positively affect your disposition towards life in Japan. An example of how I transition during a work day (via utilizing an understanding of my local setting): ' Each morning, I walk to work and pass two convenience stores on the route which gives me the ability to buy lunch or anything else I may not have prepped the night before. It is also an opportunity to use an ATM, should I need money. I also pass a dry cleaner, shoe repair store, and my barbershop (only 1500 yen a cut) using this same route. After work, I usually leave around 3:30 pm unless students need additional help with their studies or I get a special request. My house is a ten-minute walk from school and the supermarket is also located in-between my returning route. By 4:00 pm, I am done with shopping for dinner and the work clothes are coming off. '''The time I save by having an effective route contributes to the MOST essential part of my day. It creates the time I need for developing myself and preparing for the next day of life in Japan. ' It took me about ten months’ time to feel comfortable enough to go home and think, “I feel completely established with my living situation in Japan today. I think I’ll watch some Big Bang Theory on Netflix and grab a cold one.”'' '' In large, the reason it took this long was that I had not established a solid route for leaving and returning to my home until after about one year of work. '''Where to explore first? At least for the first few months, you will likely feel anxiety about what you need to visit first, vs. where you want. It is very easy to let the honeymoon stages of culture shock (the “oooh, ahh” factor) take hold of you and spend this time aimlessly exploring your new world, which usually ends with you heading to the most overrated locations in Tokyo, such as Shibuya or Shinjuku. While these places are nice (and yes, you should visit them), they have no direct consequence on your life (unless you work or commute there) especially after the ball starts rolling at work. 'The Five Stop Rule' My rule of thumb for the first two months was exploring any location outside of five stops (either direction) of my home station, will likely be less of an asset in the end. The exception to this is that you might possibly have a home located farther away than five stops from school, in which case anything in route could be an asset, but keep in mind that the closer things are to home, the better. I personally never have to use a train as I can walk one town over to my school, the other town over for my fitness center, and my town has two supermarkets, two convenience stores, tons of local shops, and a local open mic karaoke bar. Just remember that knowing essential places is key to living a cheaper and more convenient lifestyle. As this concludes this week's topic of lifestyle, I encourage anyone who has further questions to use the comment section of this post. Thanks for the reads and I hope to see you next week! Category:Blog posts